comment

POUND RIDGE, N.Y.  When the Pound Ridge Harvest Fest debuts Saturday, the Scotts Corner business district will be filled with food, games and drink for children and adults. However, the highlight of the event might just be the musical line-up the Pound Ridge Partnership has put together.

The festival stage will feature renowned singer/songwriter Edwin McCain along with the opening act, the Westchester School of Rock.

A rootsy singer/songwriter with ties to jazz and soul, McCain hails from Charleston, S.C. His touring schedule is among the most rigorous in music  300-plus nights per year  and he has opened for acts including Hootie and the Blowfish, Jewel and the Allman Brothers.

In 1997, McCain scored a mainstream hit with "I'll Be. More than a million Dr. Phil viewers voted Ill Be as the best wedding song ever written,
The New York Times
dubbed him the great American romantic, and at any given moment a radio station in America is playing one of his songs.

Adding Edwin McCain to the Harvest Festival truly sets this apart from the other local fall festivals in the Westchester area, said Steven Bensusan, Pound Ridge resident and owner of B.B. King Blues Club & Grill. This is the first time that I can remember a musician of this caliber in Pound Ridge and I hope everyone comes out and enjoys the great music.

Founded as a single school in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1998, School of Rock has become a growing international franchise, operating 69 schools in the U.S. and Mexico. School of Rock teaches guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards, drums and combines weekly private music lessons and group band rehearsals to prepare students to take the stage in front of live audiences in an authentic concert setting.

The Harvest Festival Committee felt it was important to support our young, local talent, so we reached out to the School of Rock in Bedford and invited their students to perform, Bensusan said. For these kids to share a stage with Edwin McCain will be a great experience for them.

The idea for the Harvest Festival emerged from the success of Pound Ridge Pride Day in June. It was the fledgling Pound Ridge Partnerships first event.

It was such an incredible day to see everyone gather in the town center to celebrate the great community in which we live, said Mike Daglio, co-Chair of the Pound Ridge Harvest Festivals Planning Committee. I thought that we need to have these kinds of events more often so I came up with the idea to organize a fall festival.

The group is striving to create a real fall festival feel for the event. Kevin Long, a festival co-chair, said it will feature a beer tent sponsored by Magic Hat Brewery, wine-tasting sponsored by Pound Ridge Wine and Spirits and autumn-themed food.

Local merchants, including Albanos Appliance and Service, DiNardos Ristorante Italiano, Panellas Arthur Avenue Deli & Catering, Plum Plums, Northstar and Scotts Corner Market, are working together to prepare an autumn feast that includes wiener schnitzel, kielbasa, German potato salad, fire-grilled corn, candy apples and apple cider. The Pound Ridge Police Benevolent Association will help out at the grills. Pound Ridge Wine and Spirits will host wine tasting and a beer tent for the over-21 crowd sponsored by Magic Hat.

The festival will feature all kinds of activities for the kids including tie-dye T-shirts, a hay pile scramble, tote bag designs, fast pitch and a bouncy castle.

All proceeds from the festival, which runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. along Westchester Avenue, will benefit the Beautification Fund of the Pound Ridge Partnership.

Those who would like to serve as a volunteer on the day of the Harvest Festival can contact Pauline Daglio at
daglio@optonline.net
. Businesses or organizations that would like to be involved should contact Susan Grissom by e-mailing
susan.grissom@gmail.com
.